How much ink do you want?
We have a friend who, among other things, is a blossoming writer. She has had 2 novels and a short story published recently. But she also just got her first rejection and it is an interesting one.Her latest novel (for teens, by the way) was about a girl, her horse, her "always there for her" best friend, and her decent, competent mother and father. What's not to like? It sounds like the childhood most of us wish we had!
"Too perfect," said the publisher. Nobody wants to read a story without drama. Conflict sells -- just glance at your local newspaper or gossip tabloid, if you don't believe that it does. So the father is being killed off, the mother is becoming unstable, and the best friend is now best half the time and worst the other half. Only the horse will be her constant friend.
Fair enough, if you want people to read about your life. But if you want to live your life, would you prefer to have great parents, great family, great friends and a great horse? Or crappy everything else and just a great horse?
Cutting to the chase: most of the couples/marriages/relationships that you will ever read about (or hear about in the lunch room) are not going to be the great ones or even the good ones. They are going to be the juicy, stupid, salacious, problematic, criminal, or high drama ones.
There is always going to be a huge bias in fiction and media towards conflict and disaster, elation and despair, entertainment more than education. When you think about it, even academics look mostly at problems!
If you go looking for good role models, you will find them. There are untold millions of happy marriages out there. You just won't find them being written about until their 50th wedding anniversary.
Happy Couples, Happy Planet!
posted by Heather and Dan @ 5:45 AM
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